JS Bach Brandenburg Concerto No.4 Movement 1: a musical analysis. Dr Nick Redfern
Music Through the Microscope Book 4 Kindle Edition
JS Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti are the most remarkable collection of instrumental compositions of the Baroque period. Instrumentally and compositionally virtuosic, Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 is a remarkable, formally astute and intellectually vibrant composition. The work blends a highly distinct and animated rhythmic language with a crafted melodic language which is at once highly communicable and imbued with charm. This concerto stands as a remarkable testament to Bach’s unparalleled skills as a musical craftsman and architect, and this unique publication reveals the intricate structure of this dynamic composition. The work is founded on a series or recurring structural blocks, the ritornello, that act as musical waypoints. These ritornelli are characterised by melodic and harmonic features, which this analysis unravels the intricacies of Bach’s compositional method.
The ritornello sections are interwoven with freer passages, or Episodes, where the virtuoso skills of the soloists are displayed in ever increasing levels of dexterity. Here, Bach deftly develops the motifs exposed in the Ritornelli and each episode is made highly distinct by a series of key changes. The analysis details all these musical machinations in detail and the work is fully illustrated with musical notation.
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